CASE BRIEF: Brandenburg v. Ohio
TO: Michael Barkley
FROM: Karlene Ramnath
DATE: 22nd September, 2014
CITATION: Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
PROCEDURAL HISTORY:
Clarence Brandenburg was arrested in violation of an Ohio statute that prohibited expression and speech considered to be objectionable, violent, and offensive. He was fined $1,000 and sentenced to one to 10 years' imprisonment. Brandenburg protested the charges stating that his actions were absent of criminal intent. He challenged the constitutionality of the Criminal Syndicalism Statute under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution. The intermediate appellate court of Ohio established his conviction and he then turned to the Supreme Court of Ohio which again denied his appeal. He submitted an appeal the US Supreme Court and was granted a hearing. …show more content…
He was associated with a group in the city of Cincinnati. Brandenburg invited a local news station to cover his group's rally. The fall-out of this was that the broadcast depicted an extremely vile demonstration, filled with hate-speech, violent depictions and racist actions, to the public (residents of the Cincinnati).
Brandenburg was arrested for organizing and participating in the rally and convicted in violation of the Ohio Criminal Syndicalism Statute. He appealed to the intermediate appellate court of Ohio as well as the Supreme Court of Ohio which both denied his appeals. He was granted Writ of certiorari by the US Supreme Court.
ISSUES:
Does the Ohio State Statute limit a citizen's right to expression under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution?
HOLDINGS:
The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Brandenburg and overturned his conviction under the finding that the Ohio state statute denied him his liberties under the First Amendment.